Athlete of the year: About halfway through the outdoor season last spring, Union Catholic coach Mike McCabe made a prediction.

``See that kid right there,’’ McCabe said as he looked in the direction of Taylor McLaughlin, then a freshman. ``He is going to be a beast by next year.’’

McCabe was right on the money.

McLaughlin was slowed by late season injuries last year, but he emerged this season as not just one of the biggest stars in the county, but he blossomed into one of the premier hurdlers and sprinters in the state.

McLaughlin’s season was filled with remarkable highlights, both individually and on relays.

Individually, McLaughlin broke the state sophomore record when he ran 52.48 to finish second in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the Meet of Champions, and he won the 400 and 400 hurdles at the Union County Championships, the North Jersey, Non-Public A Championships, and the state Non-Public A meet. McLaughlin’s top time in the 400 this season was 47.91, fifth fastest in the state this year.

McLaughlin was just as impressive on relays.

At the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., McLaughlin split 14.2 on Union Catholic’s shuttle hurdles team that finished first in a state record of 56.63 (No. 3 in U.S. history), split 46.02 as the anchor on the 4x400 that placed third in a Union County record of 3:11.45 (No. 5 in state history), ran 46.76 for 400 as the anchor on the Swedish relay (100, 200, 300, 400) that finished second in 1:54.10 and ran on the fifth-place 4x200 (1:27.03).

McLaughlin, who was born into a track family (his dad, Willie, was a star quarter miler at Manhattan College), said he had a feeling he was ready to take a big step forward this season.

``I could tell from all the different workouts in practice we were doing that I was a lot stronger than I was last year,’’ McLaughlin said. ``I had a lot of big goals this season and I’m happy with everything I was able to accomplish. But I know I have to keep working hard to keep improving and come back to run even faster next year.’’

Why was McCabe so confident that McLaughlin was destined for stardom so quickly?

``You could see he had the tools (mentally and physically), and was going to grow into his body,’’ McCabe said. ``And he is still growing. He's still just 15 years old. The best is yet to come.’’

Scary thought.

Team of the year:Union Catholic, under coach Mike McCabe, rolled through the county schedule undefeated, winning its third straight title at the Union County Championships and repeating as champion of the Union County Conference's Mountain Division as expected. But it made its biggest noise on the state and national stage.

At the New Balance Nationals Championships in Greensboro, N.C., Union Catholic put the finishing touches on one of the best seasons in state history. It won the shuttle hurdles in 56.63 (a state record and No. 3 in the U.S. all-time), finished third in the 4x400 in a Union County record 3:11.45 (No. 5 in state history and the fastest by a New Jersey team in 10 years), placed second in the Swedish relay (100, 200, 300, 400) in 1:54.10 and placed fifth in the 4x200 (1:27.03).

Coach of the year: One thing you can almost always count on each season is that coach Joe Hubert will get the most out the talent he has at Gov. Livingston.

Hubert again showed why is one of the best coaches around this season when he guided his team to a 99-89½ victory over Matawan to win the Central Jersey, Group 2 title. It is the fifth sectional championship since 2004 for Gov. Livingston.

Depth keys Oratory title run: Oratory won its second Non Jersey, Non-Public B title with a 91-72 victory over Eastern Christian. Oratory, which won despite not winning any events, received several strong performances.

Cormac Rada placed in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200, Mike Skinner placed in the pole vault, long jump and triple jump, while C.J. Reevey and Sean Conklin each placed in the shot put and discus.

Flair in the air: Union County was one of only two counties in the state (Morris was the other) that featured two pole vaulters who cleared 15-0 or better this season -- seniors Peter Fagan of Westfield and Michael Closs of New Providence.

Fagan matched the Union County record when he cleared 16-0 at the East Coast Relays in Randolph, then matched it when he earned All-America status at the New Balance Nationals by making 16-0 to finish fifth.

Fagan’s 16-0 is tied for No. 8 in state history and equaled the county record set in 1980 by Dan Heyburn of Cranford.

``Being a 16-foot vaulter is an amazing feeling,’’ Fagan said. "It was my goal to make 16 this year and I'm extremely happy I was able to do it. I remember hearing that our county record was so high and thinking like, man, why did we have to have such a high county record?

``But now that I actually tied it, it seems like something I never thought I could do. It's great. When I landed and saw that the bar was still up, I couldn't believe it. It felt like I was in a dream and that I would wake up any second.’’

Closs, who beat Fagan on misses at the county meet and won the Central Jersey, Group 1 and state Group 1 titles, was undefeated in the vault until the Meet of Champions, where he nearly won. Closs matched his personal best of 15-0 to place second on misses behind Eric Geider of Demarest.

Going the distance:Westfield put on a distance running clinic at the Union County Championships.

In the 1,600, junior Matt Luppino led a 1-2-3 finish for Westfield by winning in 4:22.13 (60.1 last 400). Teammates Phil Edwards, second in a personal best of 4:22.43, and Kevin Smith, third in 4:25.82, completed the impressive sweep for Westfield.

Luppino wound up dropping his personal best all the way to 4:16.98 when he finished eighth at the Meet of Champions.

The day after his runner-up finish in the 1,600, Edwards scored the biggest victory of his career at the same county meet when he ran a huge personal best of 9:30.22 to edge indoor 3,200 winner Leland Jones of Summit.

The comeback kid:Mike Murphy of Gov. Livingston was not supposed to run this season. But the senior avenged his Union County Conference loss to David Connolly of Summit by winning the Union County title in the 100 in 11.09 (11.08 in the trials).

Murphy, who returned to competition in mid-May after being sidelined by a hamstring injury in February, called the county victory the biggest of his career.

``I had two partial tears in my left hamstring from the 55 at the county final indoors and my doctor told me I shouldn’t return to sprinting until July," said Murphy, who also finished fifth in the 400.

"But this is my senior year and I wanted to help the team, so I came back earlier to see what I could do. To comeback after being out so long and win a county title is a great feeling. It’s the biggest moment I’ve had in track."